Culture & Music

A great trip to Mali would incorporate the famous Festival in the Desert in January, but there is more than enough to see and do to justify a visit at other times during the dry season, generally from the end of September to the beginning of March.

Travelling east from Bamako, the capital, Segou is the first stop of interest. Sited on the Niger River and once occupied by the French so colonial architecture sits side by side with Bamana architecture it is a charming and peaceful town where you can visit active pottery factories on the other side of the river.

Next up is the city of Djenne with its mosque, the largest mud structure in the world. The mosque was built in 1905 on a site that dates back to 1280. Each year during the rainy season the mosque is re-covered. The bustling Monday morning market is also worth visiting before moving on.

In the Dogon Country, the Dogon people’s rituals, traditions and healing methods stretch back centuries and this is the chance to explore fascinating villages with Dogon guides and to witness a celebrated Dogon masked dance.

Further north is Timbuktu, where the great Saharan salt caravans still arrive. If you are here for the Festival in the Desert, witness Tuareg caravans from all corners of the Sahara including Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, emerge from the desert. Performances take place in the evenings as the sun sets, and past performers include Tinariwen, Oumou Sangare, Desert Blues, Bassekou Koyate, Tartit & the Woodabe of Niger. On the subject, Amadou et Mariam and Habib Koité are two excellent current Malian artists, well worth a listen. During the day there are camel races and ad hoc musical performances around the festival site and the opportunity to buy local crafts.

Moving back towards Bamako, Mopti is a hubbub of river activity at the confluence of the Niger and Bani rivers. The city also has a very impressive mosque (second only to Djenne) and lively markets, and we can arrange trips on the waterways by pirogue – a small, flat-bottomed, fishing boat. Mali’s charm lies not in its accommodation, which is sometimes basic, but in its magical scenery and the undeniable beauty and charm of its diverse people.